


your love is my favourite song

by dingletragedy



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 21:59:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18949474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dingletragedy/pseuds/dingletragedy
Summary: “That’s my favourite sound in the world,” Robert states, so casually.“What?” Aaron asks, foreign indifference.“Your laugh, you idiot”or, an episode filler for the phone call between aaron & robert on 21/05/19.





	your love is my favourite song

Aaron’s thoughts are travelling at a hundred miles an hour, his eyes are damp and there’s a thud echoing in his ears, heavy and unnatural. He’s not entirely sure where the feeling has come from; Liv’s been stupid, she knows that, he knows that. But he’s confident she’ll get off lightly this time - she’s not the one who’s been doing the majority of the manipulation here; no the manipulating has come at the hands of Maya.

Then, reality crashes back into him, a tidal wave that washes away the initial worry for his sister and is replaced by thoughts of Jacob. Of a young boy facing abuse at the hands of someone he should be able to trust _; someone he still believes he can trust_.

It feels as if his chest is cracking, peeling apart at the mere thought.

Aaron takes a deep breath in and holds it for a moment, before releasing it slowly. He repeats this a few times until his heart rate normalises and he doesn’t feel like he’s going to crack in half.

He makes this futile attempt to abandons his thoughts and leans back in his seat, trying to put all this focus on breathing. Just breathing and nothing else. Naturally, that’s easier said than done.

There’s only one way,  _one person,_  that can calm Aaron when he gets like this.  **Robert**. He fishes out his phone from where it had slipped down the side of the sofa and scans through his contacts, until he finds the one with a blue heart beside it.

And so he phones him. It’s not unusual, considering they’ve shared _at least t_ wo phone calls a day since Robert’s been away.

The call connects within seconds, as if Robert was expecting him. This funny static sound takes over the line for a while, a result of calling across the water, before he hears Robert’s familiar greeting.

Aaron opens his mouth, to say whatever will come out of him, but he can’t make his mouth work. All he can hear is the echo of his own erratic breathing and Robert’s worried tone calling his name.

The anxious coil in Aaron’s chest tightens a little. He’s not sure he wants to tell Robert anymore - it’s heavy on Aaron’s chest, the weight of it almost crushing him and he doesn’t want Robert to feel an ounce of it. Not when he’s already carrying so much.

He closes his eyes momentarily. “Rob,” he says weakly. “Hi.”

He rests his head against the back of the sofa, suddenly exhausted.

“Hey, you scared me for a second,” Robert says, but it’s more of a question than a statement.

“Sorry,” he replies, trying his best to keep his voice from cracking, but there’s no point - he’s hopeless at hiding things from his husband.

“What’s the matter? Aaron?” Robert waits; one, two, three. “Has something happened? Are you alright?”

The burning in his throat subsides a fraction, soothed by the calmness that’s slowly inflating inside Aaron’s chest as Robert’s voice fills his ears.

“I’m alright, I…” he trails off, staring at a spot on the wall. “It’s not me - it’s - it’s Liv - and - and Jacob,” he says, not really doing a good job of explaining the situation - but he can’t find the words to do so.

On the other end of the line, Aaron can hear Robert draw a shaky breath, as if he’s part relieved; part horrified.

“Jacob? What’s he done now? Honestly Aaron, I’ll kill the little shit.” Robert says, in that tone of voice which scream  _protective big brother_. “Liv doesn’t deserve this.”

“Don’t Robert -“ Aaron interrupts, blinking back tears, “just - don’t.”

 _Silence_.

“Aaron?”

 _Silence_.

“Aaron, what’s going on?” He hears Robert plead, and immediately Aaron recognises the panic seeping through his voice. “Please?”

“Liv, she’s um - well she - she’s been blackmailing Maya.”

“What? Why on earth would she do that?”

“To give us money for the surrogacy.”

“Ok? You’re going to have to backtrack a bit Aaron - whats Maya got to do with anything? She’s not put Liv in sententious, has she?” Robert attempts with a laugh.

But Aaron can hear the underlying tone of something creeping into his voice, something that sounds a lot like concern, worry,  _ **panic**_.

And how do you put something like this into words? There’s isn’t a way - Aaron knows that all too well. “She’s been abusing Jacob, Rob - she’s -  _she’s brainwashed him_.”

It doesn’t bear thinking about.

He tells Robert what he knows, which admittedly isn’t much. He tells him about Liv catching them, blackmailing them. About Maya and Jacob running away together, held up in some grotty hotel room. About how she’s exploited his trust, manipulated and indoctrinated him like the monster she is. It all comes tumbling out of him, as if he can’t keep it in any longer.

He takes a deep breath, shifts his phone from one ear to the other, his arm aching from holding it up so long.

And then Robert’s voice is filtering through his speaker again, telling him that everything will be fine; that Liv will be fine, and Jacob too. Aaron wishes, desperately, that that were true. He even tries to convince himself of it, _but he knows all too well that something like this is never just fine_.

Something like this. Something he’s all too familiar with.

“Aaron, are you still there?” Robert interrupts him, just as the painful memories start to rear their ugly head, and pulls him back to the surface. “Listen to me, it’s going alright. It might not be right now - not for anyone involved, but in the end, it will be. I promise.”

Robert, even all these thousands of miles away, can be so gentle, so thoughtful and knowing - so aware of Aaron and his needs. It should scare him, how well Robert can read him - like his favourite book - but it doesn’t, in fact, it only serves to remind Aaron how amazing Robert is.

And to Aaron’s own horror, he finds himself tearing up.

“I wish you were here,” Aaron states, glancing over at the empty space on the sofa Robert usually occupies.

“So do I Aaron - I really do. But Vic - she’s -”

“I know, I know - she - she needs you. But you’re so much better at this stuff than me - you always know what to say - and when to say it.”

“Only to you Aaron. I only know how to help you because I know  ** _you_**.” And Aaron’s never really looked at it from that perspective before, it makes something inside him collapse. Or burst. “And Liv - well there’s no one she trusts and adores more than you, Aaron. You’re doing a brilliant job.”

“Really?” Aaron questions, unconvinced.

“ _Really_ ,” Robert replies, and adds: “really really,” just to hammer it home.

And that’s enough to get Aaron believing again, for the first time all day. He still feels raw, like he’s taken off a bandage after too long and every touch of air hurts, but talking to Robert - his supportive words and his calming tone - makes it all that bit easier.

“And how are you, really?” Roberts asks, that concern for Aaron ever present.

“This isn’t about me,” Aaron states,  _because it isn’t._  This is about Jacob. And Liv. And David. And everyone else caught up in the manipulation of that woman.

“That’s not to say it can’t affect you also, Aaron,” Robert countered, “and it has, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah - yeah I guess you’re right,” Aaron said quietly down the line, trying to hide the shake in his voice as he finally said it aloud, admitted that all of this had affected it, dredge memories up from the soil.

“I’m always right,” Robert said lightly, Aaron knew it was his attempt to lighten the mood - and it worked, it always does.

“Alright,  _Mr Cocky”_

“I was thinking of going round to see David later,” Aaron continues, “offer him a shoulder or whatever - I dunno. Do you think I’d just make it worse?”

“Aaron, I don’t think it can get any worse for David.”

“I just - mean - maybe not” he sighs, switching the phone to his other ear.

“You know what I think?” Robert questions.

Aaron doesn’t answer, only hums, contemplating.

“That you’re so - so caring and brace and David will respect that. If anyone can offer him some words of comfort now Aaron, it’s you.”

Aarons about to respond, but he’s stopped by a voice distance, summoning Robert into the kitchen.

“Sorry that’s Gran - I said I’d help with tea - I’ll just pop down and tell her I’m busy.”

“No don’t be daft, you go - go show them your magic, Gordon Ramsey.”

“Are you sure? Gran is more than capable of boiling some pasta on her own.”

Aaron squeezes his eyes shut, balancing the phone on his shoulder. “I’m positive.”

“I’ll call you later,” Robert promises.

There’s a pause, silence on the other end of the line before Robert says quietly, “I love you so much.” And Aaron’s heart stutters, as if it’s the first time he’s heard it, and not something he hears multiple times a day. Played on repeat, over and over; like his favourite song.

“Right then - I best got show them the magic, hey?” Robert says, referring back to Aaron’s earlier comment. “Although I fancy myself as more of a Gino D'acampo.”

And Aaron can’t help but laugh at him, all worries melted away for a mere second.

“That’s my favourite sound in the world,” Robert states, so casually.

“What?” Aaron asks, foreign indifference.

“Your laugh, you idiot”

Aaron can almost here smile in Robert’s voice - it’s like a sudden like a flash of lightning, there one minute but gone the next, electrifying Aaron to the tips of his fingers. His fingers which clench tightly around the phone - if he squeezes hard enough maybe Robert will feel it.

They’d been on the phone for 40 minutes already, but to Aaron, it felt like 40 seconds. No time with Robert, talking to him, sleeping next to him, kissing him; was enough.

But he really needed to go now; they were both needed elsewhere, Robert in the kitchen, Aaron at the shop.

“Right I best go,” Robert says, sounding hesitant. “Are you gonna be alright?”

 _I’m not sure,_ Aaron thinks, “I’ll be fine,” is what he says instead.

“I love you so much.”

“Love you millions m,” Aaron replies, can’t quite put into words just how much he means it.

And then he puts the phone down with a sigh, wishing his husband was here more than anything.

It’s only seconds later when his phones flashed to light once again, the low battery altering him of just how long he and Robert spent talking.

He tentatively unlocks his phone and reads the text from his husband.

_Call me if you need, whatever time, day or night. Love you loads. Xxx_

**Author's Note:**

> my laptop has died on me so i had to write and edit this on phone, hence why it's shit 
> 
> as ever, i'm dingletragedy on tumblr x


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